Where History Brings Us
by SnixRivera
Summary: A history of Nora and Mary Louise. I've tried to keep as close to the information we've gotten about their past in the show as possible. "You could feel the magic traveling through the mud, as if your hands were two magnets absorbing every little drop of it. You could feel it travel through her fingers and dividing itself into yours. Like magnets and electricity."
1. Chapter 1

There are by far not enough fanfictions about this couple yet. I've only recently caught up on the new season and I am completely enamoured. I've decided to just let my imagination free for this fanfic. I don't know too much about TVD's complications, but I've tried to look as much into it as I could, to get the timelines and backstories to fit with the show.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **September, 1885**

Your neck tingles as if a thousand needles are being pricked into your skin. The feeling travels from your chin to the tip of your head. When it crosses the back of your eyes, you blink rapidly, trying to keep your vision for as long as possible before your sight inevitably turns into colorful oil stains. They move before your eyelids until everything finally turns black.

 **June, 1880**

You're part of a famous butcher family. The store they own has been full of people from your town every single day since the day you were born, eighteen years ago. Your parents and brothers are often working in the store, while they make you work in the slaughterhouse and garden along with the other two _paid_ workers. You're close to being called a slave with your chores that could easily be done with magic, had you been able to do so. As a siphoner, you can't.

You were working in the garden by yourself on a hot summer afternoon in June of 1880. The air was still, not a cloud in the sky. You were wiping a droplet of sweat from your forehead when a brown haired girl with messy curls and big eyes ran past you and came to a halt when those eyes met yours. You paused your work as she stared you down, as if she was contemplating something in her head. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, a thrill shot through your body.

Before either of you could speak, a loud shout sounded from not too far away. Your head shot towards it and when you turned your head back to the girl a second later, she was already right in front of you, grasping both of your arms.

"Help cloak me, please!" she said in a harsh whisper.

You wanted to tell her you couldn't. Even though the Gemini coven was known for its cloaking spells, nobody was ever willing to teach you, the siphoner, anything. You had never successfully cloaked anything, let alone a whole person. But when you saw the clarity and life in the girl's eyes, like you had never seen before, you couldn't do anything other than nod.

She wasted no time sliding her hands down your clothed arms and to your muddy hands. She grasped both of them and closed her eyes while breathing in.

It took you a moment to realize she was trying to siphon off of you. Your heart jumped to your throat for two reasons. First, because you realized she's like you, a siphoner. Then, because you heard the shouts coming closer and the girl in front of you was frowning her eyebrows and cocking her head with a confused look.

Before you could think of anything else, you pulled her down to the ground and pushed her fingers into the soil, yours on top of hers. You tried to siphon as much magic from the ground as you could, as you had practiced so many times before while working in this same garden.

You could feel it. You could feel the magic traveling through the mud, as if your hands were two magnets absorbing every little drop of it. You could feel it travel through her fingers and dividing itself into yours. Like magnets and electricity.

You knew she could feel it too when you heard her let out a small breath. You met her eyes and gave her a small smile with a nod, before you simultaneously closed your eyes and started chanting, "Phasmatos radium calaraa."

You repeated the spell over and over while the shouts now sounded only moments away. You could see the brunette in front of you starting to panic when nothing seemed to happen. Her grip on your hands became tighter and her chanting became faster.

"Come back!" You heard a rough voice shouting. The only thing that was between you two and the voice was the perfectly square-shaped hedge. The girl in front of you let out a silent whimper, only for you to be able to hear. When you opened your eyes and saw that her round cheeks were smeared with tears, a protective instinct took over.

You slid your hands from over her hands up to her shoulders, grasping them while breathing in the still afternoon air.

"Phasmatos radium calaraa," you said one last time. This time you felt the spell working and you didn't have to open your eyes to know she was gone.

You didn't have long to breathe out in relief, because moments later the man who was shouting for the girl growled at you.

"Have you seen a girl here?"

You recognized the man immediately. You knew he visited your family's store at least once a week, though you never knew his first name. You knew he had a wife and a son with jet-black hair and a constant scowl on his face. This time you saw something else in the man. You recognized the girl's face in it. The round cheeks, the shape of her eyes and nose. He was her father.

You turned your body and slid your hands through the mud until you found one of her hands and squeezed it, unable for the man to see.

"No, sir," you told him without any doubt in your voice.

He nodded and grumbled something to himself. When he turned to leave, you felt relief flooding your body. You knew the girl felt it too, because it was then that you felt her breathe out the long breath she had been holding. You felt the air hit your face first, before it slid through your hair, making stray locks move despite the stillness of the wind.

You froze and saw the man freeze too, looking at you intensely. Oh no. Did he see?

"Phasmatos oculacs," he chanted once, answering your fears.

Before you knew it, everything was chaos. First, green and fearful eyes appeared in front of you again. Second, the man was in your garden, walking towards the two of you with a fast pace. Third, you hear screams. Fourth, you grasped the girls arms as she got pulled up by her father. Finally, the chanting in Latin and the blackness that soon followed.

You didn't even know eachother's names back then, but that was the beginning of a strong and special friendship.

 **September, 1885**

It feels only seconds later when cold hands softly stroke your cheeks, waking you up. You wrinkle your nose as something wet tickles across its bridge. You quickly blink your eyes open.

Nora's face appears in front of you, and for a moment you think you're still hanging upside down, until you realize she's hovering above you, your head in her lap.

You groan and she smiles at you. You feel as though you've been in this same situation endless times before and it has almost turned into some sort of routine. You do something to piss your family off, you get hung upside down in the slaughterhouse, you get left for dead meat, you wake up with Nora hovering above you.

It has gone on for years. In the past, Nora would have looked at you with worried eyes while you tried to hide the shame of being such an abomination to your family. Over the years, you've learned more and more about each other and situations like this have almost become normal.

She daps at the bridge of your nose with a cloth and slides it up to your hairline before bringing it back to your nose. You catch a glimpse of the cloth that now has a deep red streak on it.

"Don't worry, I've already healed it," she says as she taps the soil under you, indication she has siphoned magic from the ground again.

You slowly sit up, bringing your hand to your forehead with a groan when the dizziness quickly hits you again.

"Careful." Nora slides one arm up your back and holds your arm with the other, steadying you.

You groan again, out of annoyance this time and stand up on your feet. Nora follows suit and dusts off her dress with her hands.

"Let's go before anyone sees you," you say, looking back at the door that leads to your family's house.

In all these years, nobody except Nora's father has ever seen the two of you together. When the Gemini coven discovered that Nora was a siphoner, she was soon cast away by the coven, seeing no use in her, unlike you, who seemed to be used as the town's scapegoat. You suppose you were lucky to be born in the butcher's family. At least you didn't have the same fate as Nora, who was cast away and locked up never to be seen by any of the town members again.

Over the years, they have both learned the time window they have to meet up together. Times when Nora can leave the house unseen and you can be missed from work. For example, when you're left to hang upside down in the slaughterhouse alongside the dead cows.

You lean against a wall of your house. The area is shielded by trees and hedges and you know nobody can see you from here. You cross your arms and scowl, twisting one strand of red streaked blonde hair around your finger.

"Mary Lou..." Nora starts, but you're not interested in hearing what she has to say right now.

"Those filthy tarnations," you spit. "We need to think of a new plan to escape this place."

"Mar," Nora tries again. "We're in a town full of gemini witches. We have mastered every possible cloaking spell written in the books available to us. We've tried-"

"We've tried endless times, I know," you cut her off. "But what if this time, instead of siphoning magic from the ground, we siphon it off of a witch?"

"It's not as if we haven't tried that before either. People aren't stupid here. They know not to come close to us siphoners." She leans her hands against the wall on both sides of your waist, not touching you.

"We have only tried it separately, to avoid being seen together."

"And we have never gotten as far as a touch."

"But if we try it together, it might work." You finally push yourself off the wall, grabbing Nora's wrists from beside your waist.

"But what if someone sees us?" Nora looks genuinely surprised by your suggestion. "You are the one who always says that we can never be seen together."

"And that is why we only have one chance at this, my love." You clutch her hands in yours. One chance to escape. One chance to leave this town together for good, never to return again. One chance to finally bring Nora to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

**October 1885**

One chance.

You walk through the street over to the bakery where you have been sent by your family. You go over the plan that you and Nora have been discussing for the past month one more time, counting the different steps in your head.

First, Nora's parents leave for their weekly visit to the theatre, giving her over two hours alone before they come back.

Second, she waits for you in your garden, at the secret spot you two always meet.

Third, when it's time for you to work in the slaughterhouse, you'll unlock the backdoor for her while you wait for your brother to join you in the slaughterhouse.

Fourth, this is when Nora comes in. The two of you need to act quick here if you want the plan to work. Nora will have cloaked herself with magic siphoned from the ground, which won't last long. While invisible, she'll quickly siphon from your brother.

Fifth, your brother will know she's siphoning off of him, so Nora needs to quickly put him down with magic. The timeframe before he defends himself with magic or calls for help is short, so you and Nora have been practicing a strong spell that will put him down immediately.

You let Nora practice the spell on you, which she was strongly against at first, but then seemed to get more and more excited about once she started controlling it. You became less and less excited about it after the fifth time, though.

As you go over the final step in your head, you accidentally walk right into a person you swore had not been there before. As you jolt in surprise, the man steadies you by holding your shoulders. You look up to his face and are surprised when you don't recognize him. The Gemini coven doesn't react well to visitors and yet you are sure you've never seen this man before.

He smiles and nods kindly when you offer him your apologies. When you continue walking past him on your way to the bakery, you can feel his eyes on your back.

 **That evening**

 _Click_. You unlock the backdoor. You pray to the heavens that Nora is already outside, ready to execute the plan. Now all you have to do is wait for your brother-

You flinch when your brother clears his throat behind you. Had he been standing there long?

"Trying to escape your work again, little sister?" he says with a nasty grin on his face. He must have seen you unlock the backdoor.

"You seem to be in a delighted mood again, brother," you say sarcastically, trying to get his attention off of the door.

He huffs. "Stupid customer in the store. He called me daft when I gave him cow instead of pig."

You chuckle, slowly walking away from the door. "Can't say he's wrong," you distract him.

When he angrily growls at you, you think you may have gone a little too far with that.

"What did you just say?" he snarls. At least he seems to have completely forgotten the door.

"You must have heard me wrong," you start, but your brother isn't having it.

"Don't talk back to me." He slides his hand through his blonde locks to keep them out of his face. "Phesmatos pyrox morsinus illum!"

You had already tried to prepare yourself for the pain. You're grateful that your brother's magic is not nearly as strong as your other family member's power, but the pain infliction spell still hits your brain hard. You lock your jaw in an effort not to give him the satisfaction of a scream, nor would you want Nora to hear it through the door.

Your brother doesn't seem satisfied, because moments later he groans and goes onto a telekinesis spell.

"Egia," he says and moves his hand in front of him. You quickly duck down as the butcher's knife flies far past you. Had you not ducked down, the knife would have still missed you by at least a couple of feet. You're not sure whether this was on purpose or not, but you don't have long to contemplate it, because a loud, short scream soon follows.

Your heart rapidly speeds up as you whirl around at the sound. For a split second you think the knife has hit Nora, but you're glad to see it stuck in the wooden door, still moving back and forth from the spell's force.

You yank the door open, no longer worried about your brother and only thinking about Nora and the muffled scream you just heard. The first thing you see outside is her. She's unconscious, being held by a man. At first you're expecting it to be her father, but when you look up, you immediately recognize the man as the person you accidentally walked into on your way to the bakery this afternoon.

The man looks you right in the eyes as he swiftly and easily pulls Nora up in his arms.

"Let go of her," you shout as you start running outside, panic rising quickly. You feel your brother pull you back and you swiftly press your hand to his forearm, siphoning his magic.

"Stop it!" He tries to yank his arm free, wrapping the other around your waist to pull you back again.

You hit him with a quick spell, blasting him backwards, giving you the chance to run outside towards the man with Nora. You vaguely hear your brother hit a cupboard full of tools being followed by a muffled moan. You know he won't be getting up for a while.

The man takes fast paces and you're unable to catch up on them at a running pace. You run through the streets, passing several people on the way. While the man seems to run past without even being seen by anyone, you get some weird looks, though nobody seems to recognize you as the butcher's daughter.

As you run, the distance between you and Nora grows more and more. You scan your head for spells, but you know you cannot hit the man with an inflicting spell from this distance. You eventually reach the forest right outside your town. The distance between you and the man becomes larger by the second, and you feel the panic burning your lungs.

"Otum adnarvet esnavit atim." The magic siphoned from your brother starts to leave your body as you cast the boundary spell, hoping to disable the man from taking Nora any further into the forest.

When he suddenly stops in his tracks and turns around to face you, he smiles at you. To your surprise and confusion, it doesn't look like a wicked smile. It looks like a genuine and kind one. You don't trust it for one second.

"A boundary spell, how smart," he praises, Nora still locked in his arms, her hair cascading down to the ground in long waves.

"Let her go," you still stand a few dozen feet in front of him, cautiously walking closer now that he's no longer on the run.

"I'm sorry, we're not quite there yet," he shrugs, taking a single step back.

Before he can move any further you cast one last spell, before your magic completely leaves you again.

"Phasmatos exsomnus," you cast it at Nora this time, who startles awake at the spell with a sharp gasp. She jolts in the man's arms for a short moment, before quickly grasping his head in both of her hands.

"Oh dear," is all that leaves his lips before Nora siphons his magic and casts it back just as fast with the powerful spell she and you had been practicing all month. As he falls to the ground, she rolls away from him before scrambling to her feet, meeting you half way.

"Are you okay?" You ask her quickly, taking her face into your hands.

She nods quickly, grasping your wrists to remove them from her face as she looks back in the man's direction. She let's go of your hands and clutches your dress instead, pulling you closer.

"Mary Lou, that man... His magic," she stumbles over her words before letting go of you once again to look down at her hands this time.

"What is it?" You're desperate for answers. First and foremost, why did he take Nora? Who was he?

"What is he?" Nora rephrases your silent question.

"We have to get out of here." You grab one of her arms with both hands, ready to pull her away.

"Wait!" she yells and puts you to a quick halt. When you look back at her, you frown.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because..." her eyes travel around her surroundings, taking in the trees with a smug and curious look on her face. "We just escaped."

You let out a soft breath and close your eyes, allowing yourself to smile for a short moment, because yes, despite having been terrified of losing Nora to a strange man for the past few minutes, he unknowingly helped the two of you escape town.

You place your hands on her cheeks again and this time she allows it, smiling up at you. Her smile doesn't fade when your lips first touch, and it quickly returns when the both of you pull back from the kiss.

"Well that certainly explains the chasing." You both freeze at the man's voice.

You swallow hard, unable to look away from Nora. You stare at her as she turns her head back to the man, but you can't. You're frozen, because this is the first time the two of you are seen together. This is the first time anyone sees the two of you kiss. This is the first time someone _knows._

"Do not worry, despite what you may think, I'm not here to harm you," the man says.

You see Nora's lip twitch before her eyes travel up and down.

"Who are you?" she asks, curious for answers.

"My name is Malcolm." You hear his footsteps coming closer through the leaves, but Nora doesn't back away. Neither do you, still being rooted to the ground.

"Why did you... What are you..." You watch as she shakes her head, confused by what question to ask first.

"Tell your girlfriend to calm down," he says instead of answering. He almost sounds amused.

Nora unconsciously takes your hand at that, but you quickly pull yours away. When you do so, her eyes finally leave the man and travel from your hands to your face. She looks at you with a confused look on her face, only noticing your inner turmoil for the first time now.

"Mary Louise," she says in an almost disappointed tone. She grabs your hand again and this time to let her, to please her. You remain rigid and uncomfortable, but force yourself to turn to face Malcolm.

He nods at you in greeting with a smile, his hands behind his back. Unlike you, he seems to be comfortable in these woods, despite his fancy long suit and grey trousers that are now streaked with dirt.

"Why did you take her?" You finally speak, too conscious to just be standing there in front of someone who has just seen you kiss another woman.

"Well," He starts. He looks amused by how uncomfortable you are. "Let me start at the very beginning. Back when I was a siphoner in the Gemini coven, just like the two of you..."

He tells you about his past in your coven, about his banishment, about him coming close to his death before meeting a woman who changed everything, Lillian Salvatore. When he mentions hybrids, you can no longer hold your silence.

"This all doesn't explain why you took Nora. If any of this is even true," you say skeptically. Nora seems almost annoyed that you interrupted his story.

"Oh but it does," he begins. "You see, Lily has had the wish to expand her family for several decades now. She has known about the two of you ever since your coven found out about your siphoning skills. We checked in every year or so, watching you grow older," he pauses before winks and adds, "together."

You shiver at his words. Shiver at the thought of this man watching you work in the garden. Following you when you run errands for your family, just like he had done today. You're now sure that running into him certainly hadn't been an accident. Your hand holding Nora's itches as you think of the man watching her sneak through the streets on her way to your house. Had he...

"Did you know?" you ask him, "about... us?" You hold up your clasped hands, indicating that you meant your relationship.

His kind smile returns. "I speculated. I was never certain though. I granted you your privacy of course." His answer sounds genuine, which makes you relax a bit.

"So why did you pick us?" Nora asks, still trying to make sense of this all.

"Why did you pick Nora?" you correct her.

"The plan was to come back for you next of course," Malcolm answers. "I suppose I should have known you'd follow us instead."

You look at him sheepishly. Nora squeezes your hand and quickly leans closer to plant a fast kiss on your shoulder before you can protest.

Malcolm starts explaining why he picked you. He tells you about how siphoners can siphon constant energy from themselves when they become hybrids. This certainly draws your attention. Being immortal and having a constant source to magic...

"You become a hybrid when you die with vampire blood in your system," Malcolm continues.

"Wait," you feel Nora freeze up next to you for the first time that evening. "Die?"

Malcolm raises his hands in apology, knowing he probably shouldn't have mentioned that so lightly.

"Mar," Nora pulls on your hand. You turn to look at her and see the look of horror on her face. When she notices that you don't look fazed by Malcolm's words whatsoever, the horror intensifies.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," you ensure her. "I promise." In the meanwhile, the gears in your head start turning.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Malcolm says. "Death is not as scary as it sounds. In fact, my death was over before I even-"

"Can we go now?" Nora interrupts him, looking even more horrified after realizing that Malcolm has of course died in order to become a hybrid.

"No wait, honestly, a simple snap of the neck-" Malcolm tries again, only making things worse.

"Mar, please." She desperately tugs on your hand, but you don't move.

"So when we're like this, we'll have endless magic for the rest of our hybrid lives?" you ask, trying to make sense of it all in your head.

"Mary Lou!" Nora desperately yelps as Malcolm nods his head.

"Think about it Nora," you grab her shoulders. She leans back in your grasp, clearly uncomfortable and surprised by how you're even considering this. "For the first time in our lives, we would be the ones in charge. We would be more powerful than the entire coven. We wouldn't have to be afraid anymore."

"But we would be dead!" Nora cries.

"On the contrary, my child." You both turn around at the sound of a female voice. "You would be more alive than you have ever been."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again. I'm sorry for the belated update. I've been working every day and I have college on the side, so I've been quite busy.

Before I start, I'd like to thank all of the people who have left reviews on this story so far. You can't imagine how motivating all your kind words are!

(11/30/2015) I've made some small edits regarding the years in the last two chapters, since Thursday's episode will be about Noralise's 133th anniversary of being together. (Which makes me believe they have that big of a party every year, since 133 is a pretty insignificant number.) Anyway, the years don't affect the story too much, so just read on.

* * *

The twigs and leaves crunch under your feet as you follow Malcolm and Lillian Salvatore through the forest. Their footsteps hardly make a sound and you catch yourself unconsciously trying to match their gracefulness.

Nora however, seems to literally be stumbling through the woods. She walks a few feet behind you, taking uneven steps. The curiosity that had previously coursed through her body seems to be fully taken over by uncertainty and discomfort.

She's nowhere near comfortable with the thought of death, but she has agreed to following the two strangers to their current settlement, where you would be meeting the rest of their family.

You suspect she mostly agreed because you agreed to it, not leaving her much choice. You know she's uncomfortable, but you think about what this could mean for you.

Your entire lives, the two of you have been treated as if you were nothing. Two unwanted plagues in your coven. Never have you known what it feels like to be free. What it feels like to enjoy this life outside of your coven.

Your thoughts get interrupted when Nora stumbles over the roots of a tree and tries to keep herself from falling by digging her nails into your arm while her other reaches for the tree. She manages to stay on her feet, though she hisses in pain when her hand scratches along the bark of the tree.

"Ouch," she says as she waves it through the air. You grab a hold of it and examine her palm, finding a cut running over its center. You can see it's not too deep, though there's blood pooling at one side of it.

You immediately freeze at the sight of the blood, very much aware that you're in the company of two vampire witches. You look up, finding both of them staring intently at Nora's hand.

When you do so, so does Nora, who then quickly pulls her hand away and makes a fist.

The two people in front of you notice your shift in demeanor, and Lily chuckles softly to break the tension. She shakes her head and takes a step forward, towards Nora. You take a step to your right in response, now half shielding Nora with your body.

"Don't worry," Lily tells you as she continues walking towards the two of you. She takes slow paces and you try to fight the instinct to walk back to keep her at a distance.

Though you had never personally met a vampire before, their existence was well-known within the Gemini coven. Every witch knew about their immortality and blood-thirst. What if all of this had been a trick to lure you away from your coven and to then drain the two of you from your blood?

But no, you don't believe so. Had these people been planning to kill you, they would have done it already. It didn't seem like this was just a game to them.

For that reason, you allow Lily to slowly walk past you and hold up her palm for Nora to place her hand in. You all know very well that Nora could easily siphon her magic to use against her if she does so, but you also know that Lily is a far more powerful witch than she is. It's a trust game on both parts.

Nora seems hesitant to offer her her hand, but eventually does so. She gasps when Lily casts a wordless spell to close up and heal the wound.

"Uhm, thank you," she mutters, closing her hand into a fist again before pulling it away.

Lily nods briefly, before turning and pointing towards the direction they had previously been walking in.

"The house is not too far anymore. I suggest we keep walking before the sun goes down."

You hear Nora sigh, though she doesn't hesitate to follow along this time around. When she stumbles over a tree root again about ten minutes later, you decide it's probably safest to hold her hand for the rest of the way.

»»»

Shortly after sundown, you reach a stone house, seemingly made of the rocks of the small mountain it is settled against. A small waterfall glides down from it, falling into a thin river that quickly disappears downhill between the trees with a soft rushing sound.

The house seems to be completely secluded from the outside world, though when you reach the small clearing it's located at, the lights turn on and the door opens. A man stands in the doorway and quickly invites you in. He doesn't look surprised by your arrival in the slightest.

When the four of you follow the man inside, you notice Lily kissing him a swift hello. You look to your side to see if Nora had seen it too, but find her staring in the opposite direction. When you follow her gaze, you see a blonde man standing in the middle of what seems to be the kitchen. He's just standing there, staring ahead of him. He seems to be staring at Nora.

You break away your gazes when another man appears in front of you.

"Ah, fresh meat!" he laughs loudly.

You freeze immediately, your blood running cold at his words. Nora stumbles backwards, walking into a table. The vase on top of it wobbles dangerously, until a dark-skinned man is suddenly standing at your side, adjusting the vase.

You jump at his sudden appearance and Nora even lets out a little squeal, jumping back and bumping into you.

"Oscar," the man who had opened the door for you and kissed Lily scolds. "Don't scare our new guests."

"My apologies," he laughs again, seeming very dapper. "You must be Nora and Mary Louise."

You're still on edge, but slowly nod your head.

"It is very nice to meet you. My name is Oscar." You're surprised when he grabs your hand, knowing he knows you're a siphoner. He even goes as far as planting a kiss on top of it. When he does the same to Nora, you shift uncomfortably.

Oscar seems to notice, because he laughs once again, looking at you delightfully.

"So it is true," he says happily, pointing his finger between the two of you.

Before you can respond, which would have no doubt created an even more uncomfortable situation, the other man cuts in again.

"Don't mind him," he says before sticking out his hand for the two of you to shake aswell, showing the same confidence and trust Oscar gave you. "My name is Julian, and this here," he motions towards the man standing next to Nora and the vase she almost broke, "is Beau," he finishes.

Beau nods his head in a solemn greeting, keeping his hands positioned behind his back.

"Nice to meet you, too," Nora says doubtfully, as if she's required to say it.

The entire room, apart from the two of you, chuckles softly at that, clearly aware of the truth.

"We hope that one day you will start to trust us and see us as your family," Lily tells you. "That's all we wish for."

She sounds so kind and genuine that you momentarily forget that these people are in fact vampires. For a moment you see yourself living here with them, getting to know these people. Laughing with Oscar, trusting Malcolm with your biggest secrets, learning from Julian, earning Beau's trust, and most importantly, considering Lily as the mother you never had.

Those thoughts quickly fade to the back of your head when you look over to Nora. From the doubtful look on her face, you can see she definitely doesn't feel the same way. Not yet.

"Speaking of family," Malcolm speaks up. "Where is Valerie?"

You look around curiously. There's another hybrid you haven't met yet?

You catch Julian's eyes quickly gliding over you and Nora before he says, "She's on an errand."

Nobody pushes the matter any further. You have an idea what to imagine when a vampire witch goes on an errand. It most likely involves blood.

It seems like Nora hadn't noticed the slight hesitation in Julian's voice, because she's already onto the next subject.

"Who is the man in the kitchen?" she asks. You had already almost forgotten about the blonde man.

"Oh, Thomas? He owns the house," Lily tells you. "He's kind enough to let us stay here."

Before Nora can continue asking about him, Lily leads you into the living room and offers the two of you a seat.

"You must have many questions about everything. Feel free to ask us anything you want, but perhaps for tonight, let's just get to know each other better."

That's where the long evening really begins. You learn more about vampires that evening than you ever knew before. You listen to the stories of how each of them turned into a hybrid. You learn that they were all siphoners before, except for Lily and Julian, who are just vampires, having adopted the hybrids to their family.

You quickly learn that Beau is mute and listen to Lily as she tells his story, earning a nod from Beau every now and then.

Even Nora seems to become a little more at ease as the night passes on and more of her questions get answered. She even chuckles at one of Oscar's jokes at a certain point.

As the conversation comes to an end, everybody decides that it's time for bed. You and Nora get assigned to a small bedroom upstairs. When you see that it's a double bed, you suddenly get both nervous and excited.

In all five years of knowing each other, the two have you have never slept in an actual bed. Each time you have laid together before, it had been outside on the ground, hidden away from other people. You could count the times you had been able to spend the night together on two hands, always depending on your families.

Here, the two of you get offered a double bed on the first day of knowing these people. You feel like you could get used to this.

Nora however, looks more uncertain as she fiddles with the ties of her dress. You take off your own, stepping into one of the nightgowns splaid out on the bed when you're fully undressed.

Nora is still fiddling with the same ties, so you quickly step over to help her. She drops her hands with a sigh and lets you untie them for her. When she's undressed, you hold the second nightgown up for her to step into.

Her gown falls over her shoulders, soon followed by her brown curls. You brush some of her hair out of her face and smile when her face becomes visible again. She briefly smiles back, before looking down, causing her hair to cascade in front of her face again. She walks over to the bed, pulling you with her.

When the two of you lay down in silence, you realize this is the first time since leaving the coven that you are alone together. You turn to face her and see that she's lying on her back, facing the ceiling.

You shuffle closer to her, placing your left hand on top of hers and leaning your forehead against her shoulder. You can feel her body is rigid, so you tilt your head up to look at her face. You know she's uncomfortable. You're not used to sleeping together in a bed, or sleeping together with other people just a wall away.

"Nora," you start softly, but she immediately cuts you off.

"Let's just sleep, okay?" she says and turns around, her back facing you. She laces your fingers together and pulls your left hand over her waist, holding it there.

You hesitate, wondering if you should push any further. You know Nora well enough to know that she won't talk when she's like this, so you bury your face into her hair and close your eyes instead.

It doesn't take you too long to fall into a deep slumber, feeling more comfortable with Nora in your arms than you've ever felt sleeping alone in your own bed.

You know Nora isn't as comfortable as you are when she wakes you up by shifting in your arms. You open your eyes, finding her facing you, her face buried in the crook of your neck. She must have noticed she had woken you, because she utters a quick apology.

"I can't sleep," she continues apologetically, pulling her face a few inches away from your neck. Her voice is low, almost inaudible.

"Sorry," you sigh back sleepily. You don't know how long you had been sleeping, but apparently Nora had been awake this entire time. You wonder if perhaps there's another bed available somewhere. Maybe you could sleep on the floor, if that would make Nora more comfortable.

"I can find another place to sleep," you tell her, clearing your throat to sound less sleepy.

"Shhh!" Nora shushes you quickly, pulling back with a frown to fully face you. You're about to apologize again for talking too loud, but then her frown turns into confusion. "Wait, what? No," she says quickly, grasping both of your wrists.

"What?" you say too, matching her confusion.

"Shh," she shushes you again, putting her fingers over your mouth. "They can hear us."

You frown, pulling her hand away from your mouth. "Everyone is asleep."

"I can't sleep knowing there are vampires aching for our blood in the same house," she whispers silently.

You sigh, rolling onto your back. You're relieved that you're not the reason Nora couldn't sleep, but you're sad that she doesn't feel comfortable here. You don't blame her. You know it's a lot to take in, but for some reason, you feel safe here. You feel like your life can finally start.

"I'm sorry," Nora apologizes, "but I have read _Brother and Sister_ by the brothers Grimm. I know all about the cozy house and the evil witch who feeds the children only to eat them later."

You can't help but chuckle, receiving a soft punch on the shoulder in response for being too loud.

"Nora, that fairytale is about a witch living in a house made of candy. Let's not forget that we are witches too," you smile at her, letting a lock of her hair slide between your fingers. "Besides, there are no vampires involved in that story."

She huffs, resting her head on your shoulder, but you lift it up and slide from under her to rest your feet on the floor and sit up on the bed. You quickly put on some shoes.

"What are you _doing_?" she hisses at you. She can shield her head just in time to avoid the shoes you throw at her to hit her. "Mary Lou!"

"Now you see, had you been a vampire, you would have caught those shoes before they had even left my hands," you smirk at her.

She scowls at you, jutting her lower lip out, but it quickly turns into smile when you lean over to kiss her.

"Come on, put those shoes on. We're going out," you say, standing up.

"Out? But it's the middle of the night," Nora argues.

"But I know you will not be getting any sleep here," you counter.

"What if they hear us leave?" Nora turns her voice down again, looking at the door.

"Then they'll know that _we're going out_ ," you say the last part quite loud, knowing there's a good chance one of the five vampires in the house will have heard you.

"Mar," Nora hisses in warning, but you only shrug in response.

Nora quickly puts her shoes on, seeming eager to get out of the house now.

Shortly later, you're walking outside in the woods. The two of you decided to follow the small river close to the house during your walk in order not to get lost.

"So," you finally break the silence. "We need to talk about this."

You walk in pace with Nora, trying to avoid the small rocks as much as possible. It's hard to see much in the dark, the only light coming from the stars and moon that fill the sky.

"I just..." she sighs. "I don't know if I want this."

You remain quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"I know you already see a future with them. You are already warming up to the idea of being one of them, but I never imagined my future like this."

You huff. "Believe me when I say I never imagined a life as a vampire."

Nora stops walking, kicking a rock into the river. You stop too, waiting for her to speak again.

"I know you haven't, but you did not live like I did in the coven." She begins shaking her head and takes your hand. "I know you had it terrible. I know that. But you got to go outside. You had room to move. You weren't locked up in a dark room for most of your life, only being able to escape for short periods of time on certain days."

The more she speaks, the louder she gets. She eventually shuts herself up with a fast intake of a breath. She slowly exhales, looking you in the eyes.

"I want to have some freedom in my life for once. I want to be able to make choices for myself," she continues.

"And you would finally have all of that as a hybrid," you try to explain.

"But I would want it to be my choice."

"It would be your choice! I am not forcing you into doing anything you don't want, Nora," you squeeze her hand.

She chuckles sadly, "I know it is not your desire to rob me from that choice, but you know my biggest wish is to spend my future with you. I have not chosen an immortal life as a vampire, Mar, but I _have_ chosen you," she sighs. "I don't want to have to change that choice," she adds before looking away.

You inhale deeply, opening your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. The last thing you want to do is make Nora unhappy and take her freedom away from her. You know you want a future with her too. An immortal one if it's up to you, but to hear Nora talking about rethinking her choice of being with you, you realize that she's the most important thing in your life.

Whether you will be a siphoner or a hybrid in the future, you know it has to involve Nora.

Before either of you can speak any further, you get interrupted by an unknown female voice.

"Aw, trouble in paradise?"

* * *

A/N: _Brother and Sister_ a famous European fairytale, also known as Hansel and Grettel. (I'm Dutch myself, so I'm not sure how well known it is in the US. I imagine Nora reading all sorts of things in her time locked up)


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